This specification relates to search engines.
A search query includes one or more query terms that a user submits to a search engine when the user requests the search engine to execute a search. The user may, for example, enter the query terms by typing on a keyboard, or by speaking the query terms into a microphone of a mobile device.
When speaking query terms, audio distortion caused by clipping, lost samples, or microphone frequency response non-linearity can significantly impact recognition accuracy. Because the design and configuration of an audio subsystem of a mobile device may involve a collaboration between multiple parties, it is oftentimes difficult to address problems that are caused by individual designs, partly due to communication problems that are aggravated by corporate boundaries, intellectual property issues, trade secrets, and other factors.